Lake Berryessa has a world famous Glory Hole spillway that’s 72 feet wide and 245 feet long. It acts as a large drain for the Monticello Dam to supply water to California’s Napa Valley. The water from Lake Berryessa drains into the Putah Creek found below the spillway.
California has been experiencing extreme droughts, and the spillway has not worked effectively since 2006. But the rains of 2017 have been a record high in California, allowing the dam to fill up to its safe maximum limit. Since the dam has filled up, the Lake Berryessa spillway has successfully drained water into the Putah Creek. These drone shots show the amazing spillway draining water into the Putah Creek which also supplies water to wildlife, and various docks and marinas.
In the 58 years that the Glory Hole spillway has existed, it has only worked successfully 26 times. The winter rainfall in California has risen the watershed levels from 40 to 110+ inches. Hopefully record rainfalls will continue and help aid California’s drought troubles and allow the Lake Berryessa spillway to continually supply Napa Valley’s waterways.